ArmInfo.Armenia is committed to a constructive dialogue aimed at establishing lasting peace. To prepare the people of the region for a peaceful solution to the conflict, I have announced that the settlement should take into consideration the interests of all three parties; namely, Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, Armenia`s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated in an interview to Euractiv, commenting on the plan to use fresh momentum in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations to continue improving ties between the two nations.
According to Pashinyan, he was criticised by the Armenian public and media, since the president of Azerbaijan refused to do the same. <Moreover, he repeatedly uses aggressive rhetoric that has a very negative impact on my efforts to prepare people for the peace and damages the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs>, Pashinyan noted.
It is absolutely necessary to get Nagorno-Karabakh involved in the negotiations, in a process that ultimately will determine the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure the security guarantees for the people who live there.
Two former presidents of Armenia were born, raised, and lived in Artsakh.Unlike them, I do not represent Artsakh, the people living there did not participate in the elections in Armenia, and therefore, I do not have the mandate to represent the population of Artsakh in a peace process, he said.
I represent Armenia and am ready to engage in negotiations on behalf of Armenia. If Azerbaijan also states that the settlement of the conflict should include the interests of all parties involved, it would give a good opportunity to resume the negotiations based on mutual trust, the Prime Minister noted.
Anwering the question whether he shares President Ilham Aliyev`s point of view which he tweeted noting that 2019 would "give a new impetus" to the NK conflict settlement the Armenian Prime Minister mentioned: <It is positive if by "giving a new impetus" President Aliyev means recognition of the right of self-determination of people of Nagorno-Karabakh. If not, then it is simply another bold statement. Of course, we would like to give new content to the peace process and have already submitted our vision through the mediators to the Azerbaijani side. Peace is in the best interest of all countries of our region, and we are committed to exerting efforts to achieve a lasting and sustained peace>.
Emphasizing the important role of the UN in the settlement of the conflict Pashinyan stated that the international community recognises only one institutional process for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - it is the process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. However, it is important that the UN welcomes this peace process, Pashinyan noted.